You've made the call. The agency isn't working. But you're stuck on one fear: what if campaigns get paused, data disappears, and your rank drops while the new team is getting started?
So how do you switch Amazon agencies without losing sales?
Quick Answer
You switch safely by securing your access and your data before you give notice, running a short overlap between the old and new team, and keeping big changes off the table for the first few weeks except clear waste. Sales drops during a switch usually come from three things: campaigns paused or deleted, a gap where nobody watches the account, or a new agency rebuilding everything at once. Make sure you own your Seller Central account, your ad account and your creative, export at least 12 months of history, and get the handover plan in writing. Done this way, a switch doesn't need to cost you sales, and the first 30 days with the new team should already cut waste.
Key Takeaways
- Own your accounts: Your Seller Central account, ad account, Brand Registry and creative files should belong to you, not the agency.
- Secure access before you give notice: Check every user and permission first. Once notice is given, you have less pull.
- Export everything: Campaign history, search terms, business reports and bulk files are what let the new team start fast.
- No big rebuild in month one: The new team should cut obvious waste and keep what works, then restructure.
- Set a baseline on day one: Without a clear starting point, you can't judge the new agency fairly.
In this article
- What Does Switching Amazon Agencies Actually Involve?
- When Is It Time to Switch?
- What Can Go Wrong When You Switch?
- Who Should Own My Seller Central and Ad Accounts?
- How Do I Switch Amazon Agencies Step by Step?
- Should I Switch Agencies in Q4?
- How Long Before the New Agency Shows Results?
- How We Handle This at Globious
- Common Mistakes
- The Bottom Line
- Frequently Asked Questions
What Does Switching Amazon Agencies Actually Involve?
It's five things, not one.
- Access: who can log in to Seller Central and the ad console, and with what permissions.
- Data: the history of what was tested, what worked and what didn't.
- Campaigns: the live ads that are driving sales today.
- Creative: images, A+ content, videos, Brand Store, and the source files behind them.
- The contract: notice period, ownership terms and what happens to work in progress.
Most switching problems happen because a brand handles the contract and forgets the other four.
When Is It Time to Switch?
If you are reading this, you probably already know. The usual signs: revenue up but profit flat, TACOS climbing every quarter, monthly reports with no diagnosis, and the senior person from the sales call nowhere to be seen.
If you are not sure yet, run the checks in our guide on how to know if your Amazon agency is working first. Switching is work. Do it for a reason you can point to in the numbers.
What Can Go Wrong When You Switch?
| Risk | What happens | How to prevent it | When to act |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaigns paused or deleted | Ad sales drop overnight, sales velocity and rank slip | Written agreement that campaigns stay live until handover day; you keep admin access | Before notice |
| History lost | New team starts blind and repeats old tests | Export 12+ months of reports and a full bulk file | Before notice |
| Gap with nobody watching | Stockouts, suppressed listings, hijackers go unnoticed | 1 to 2 week overlap where both teams can see the account | During notice |
| New agency rebuilds everything at once | You can't tell what helped and what hurt; sales swing | Agree a 30-day plan: cut waste first, restructure after | First 30 days |
| Creative held back | You lose images, A+ and video source files | Contract states you own the work; download files before notice | Before notice |
Who Should Own My Seller Central and Ad Accounts?
You. Always. The agency works inside your accounts. It should never be the owner of them.
Amazon's own guidance on user permissions in the Seller Forums is clear on the basics: don't share your password, give users only the permissions they need, review permissions regularly, and remove access for people who no longer work with you. It also says outside service providers should be connected as authorized partners rather than added as regular users.
On the ad side, Amazon Ads manager accounts let agencies link and manage several advertiser accounts, and an agency can create a manager account on behalf of an advertiser. That is normal. Just make sure you have admin access to the ad account itself and you know which manager accounts are linked to it, so you can remove the old agency's link on handover day.
If your agency set up the ad account under its own login, fix that before anything else.
How Do I Switch Amazon Agencies Step by Step?
- Read the contract. Note the notice period, who owns the creative, and any minimum term. Plan your dates around it.
- Check your access. In Seller Central, go to Settings > User Permissions and list every user and partner with access. In the Amazon Ads console, confirm you are an admin and check which manager accounts are linked.
- Export your data. Pull 12+ months of: Business Reports (Detail Page Sales and Traffic by Child Item), the Sponsored Products search term report, campaign and advertised product reports, a full bulk operations file of every campaign, Brand Analytics Search Query Performance, and Payments > Date Range Reports.
- Download your creative. Every image, A+ module, video and Brand Store asset, plus the editable source files if your contract covers them.
- Record your baseline. Total sales, TACOS, Unit Session Percentage, organic rank on your top 10 keywords, and net margin. This is how you will judge the new team.
- Give notice with a written handover. Ask for: campaigns stay live and unchanged until handover day, no deletions, a list of open Seller Support cases, inbound shipments, and anything in testing.
- Run an overlap. Give the new agency view access during the notice period so they learn the account before they touch it.
- Remove old access on handover day. Remove users, partners and linked manager accounts the same day the old contract ends. Change any shared passwords.
- Keep the first 30 days focused. The new team should cut clear waste, fix urgent issues and leave working campaigns alone until they have enough data.
Should I Switch Agencies in Q4?
It depends on how bad things are.
If the account is actively bleeding money, waiting costs you more than switching. Move now, with an overlap.
If it's frustrating but stable, do the prep now. Secure access, export the data, record the baseline, and talk to the agencies you're considering. Then plan the actual handover for when the peak deal weeks are behind you. Changing teams in the middle of your busiest weeks adds risk you don't need.
How Long Before the New Agency Shows Results?
Clear waste, like search terms that spend and never convert or fee errors, can be fixed in the first 30 days. Conversion, creative and organic rank usually take 60 to 90 days to show up in the numbers.
Judge them against the baseline you recorded, in profit, not just revenue. Our guide on what an Amazon agency costs has the simple contribution margin math for that.
How We Handle This at Globious
A lot of brands come to us after a bad agency experience, so we built the start to be low risk.
It begins with a free Clarity Call. We go through your PPC, fees, listings and organic rank and show you every gap with an ROI projection, before any pitch. If it makes sense, we run the Podium Protocol: a 90-day optimization sprint with a money-back guarantee at the end of each month. Month one is about cutting wasted spend, restructuring PPC, fixing fees and locking in what already works. Not tearing everything down. Senior operators do the work, and the people on the call are the people in your account.
Zelmins came to us stuck on a revenue plateau with high TACOS and no clear path forward. Monthly revenue went from $40K to $75K, at 20% net profit.
Common Mistakes
- Giving notice before securing access. Check permissions and export data first. After notice, you are asking a team that's leaving for favors.
- Letting the agency own the ad account. If they leave with the account, they leave with your history.
- Picking the agency with the best pitch deck. Ask who will actually run your account, by name, and how many other accounts they handle. Most agencies sell senior and staff junior.
- Letting the new team rebuild everything in week one. A full restructure on day one looks busy. It also makes it impossible to see what's working.
- Choosing on the lowest fee. A cheap agency that misses the waste is the expensive one.
- Switching with no baseline. Then six months later you are arguing about feelings instead of numbers.
The Bottom Line
Switching agencies is not the risky part. Switching without a plan is. Before you send the notice email, secure your access, export your data and write down your baseline. Then give the new team a clear first 30 days and judge them on profit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my Amazon agency delete my campaigns when I leave?
If they have access, technically yes. Protect yourself with a written agreement that campaigns stay live until handover day, keep admin access yourself, and export a full bulk file before you give notice so campaigns can be rebuilt if needed.
Will switching agencies hurt my organic ranking?
Not by itself. Rank drops during a switch usually come from paused ads, stockouts or a gap where nobody watches the account. Keep campaigns running, run a short overlap, and keep inventory planned through the transition.
What data should I get from my old Amazon agency?
At least 12 months of Business Reports, search term reports, campaign and advertised product reports, a full bulk operations file, and Search Query Performance data. Also get all creative files and a list of open Seller Support cases and active tests.
Who owns my Amazon ad account and creative?
Your ad account and Seller Central account should always be yours, with the agency added as a user or partner. Creative ownership depends on your contract, so read it before you give notice and download the files you are entitled to.
Should I switch Amazon agencies during Q4?
If the account is losing money, switch now with an overlap. If it is stable but disappointing, do the prep now and plan the handover for after the peak deal weeks, so you are not changing teams during your busiest period.
If you want to talk through your Amazon growth goals and what a clean switch could look like for your brand, book a call with Mayer.
